Steven Universe-Z
by LordAdamant
Summary: Steven, now fully grown, is faced with an interesting challenge-raising the seven new hybrids in Beach City. The Crystal Gems (post redemption Homeworld Gems included), after throwing the Diamond Authority off of Earth, had decided to follow Rose's footsteps and bind themselves to Earth forever by giving up their forms for the next generation of Earth's defenders.
1. Interested?

New Generation

Steven, now fully grown, is faced with an interesting challenge-raising the seven new hybrids in Beach City. The Crystal Gems (post redemption Homeworld Gems included), after throwing the Diamond Authority off of Earth, had decided to follow Rose's footsteps and bind themselves to Earth forever by giving up their forms for the next generation of Earth's defenders.

This was a random idea I had that I thought I'd write up, see what people thought.

It all started fifteen years ago. Steven had recently turned twenty, and Connie was home from university on Spring Break. The entirety of the Crystal Gems were there, including the former Homeworld Gems. Even Greg was there to spend time with everyone, despite having some heart troubles recently. Everyone was sitting in the house and chatting. Amethyst, Jasper, and Steven were enjoying some food, and everyone was having fun. Then, Garnet dropped a bomb.

"I'm having a kid. Technically two." The entire house went dead silent, but before anyone could ask any questions Garnet raised her hand to quiet them. "Seven years ago, we defeated Homeworld's forces. Five years ago we collected the last of the corrupted gems. We haven't had to fight anything, even a terrestrial foe, for over three months. And over those three months, I made a decision: My time is over. I have fought for thousands of years, I have experienced so much, as Garnet, as Ruby and Sapphire, and now it's time for my story to end happily."

"Who-?" Greg starts to ask.

"Jamie volunteered very readily," Garnet responds, and everything goes quiet.

"Are you sure about this?" Steven asks. Garnet nods, and in the silence Steven walks up to where she stands. "Well then, I'll do my best to take care of and teach your kid...s?" Garnet nods, and Steven smiles.

"I know you will, Steven. And...thank you." Behind her sunglasses, Steven can tell she's on the verge of crying. Within the next few moments, everyone gathers together in a massive group hug.

Over the next seven years, all of the Gems found willing donors and followed the same path. Greg died shortly before Steven's thirtieth birthday; the doctors said it was his heart, it just gave out. But, he died with a smile on his face, playing one last song with his son. Steven went on, and when not being famed by the humans as a war hero, he was a musician. People would come from the world over to hear "Mr. Universe" play. Connie was accepted into a prestigious university and pursued a medical degree like her mother.

And Beach City, despite everything, hasn't changed very much. Lars and Sadie still work at the Big Donut, though nowadays the pair own it, often seen with their three year old daughter, Anna. The Frymans are still in town, well, except for Ronaldo. After the battle with Homeworld, the government came and recruited him. He stops in from time to time, and he's the same old Ronaldo. Peedee ended up redoing the family restaurant, reopening it to be more friendly (Frybo was burned in a "cleansing fire" shortly before the reopening). Jenny and Kiki still run the pizza shop, but they made a few changes over the years. They had to refurbish, especially since Jenny was married to Mayor Buck Dewey. Sour Cream started up his own dance club in the old warehouse, named it the "Salty Sailor" in honor of his step-father. Onion... No one is sure what Onion does. He left town a few years back, and the last any heard of him he was a guest professor at a university.

But these days, it's not just one happy-go-lucky gem hybrid they have to deal with.

"Tim! Get back here!" Steven shouts down the boardwalk, sighing. The boy in question is a tanned young lad with short, wavy black hair and deep blue eyes wearing swim trunks. A dark blue stone can be seen glinting on his back. "You, too, Rod." His companion is a taller boy with shaggy white hair, and a bright orange gem for a nose wearing a white tee and karate pants.

"I'll get em," a shorter boy on Steven's left says, running forward. His darker skin glints with sweat under the midday sun and his short black hair is held back with a headband. Other than that, he wears basketball shorts and a black tee. As he reaches out to grab the other boys, a red stone can be seen set into his left palm.

"Thanks, Adam," Steven says, looking into the boy's different eyes. The lad's right eye is brown, while is left is a brilliant blue. "Nice work, don't you think, Eve?" he asks of the lad's twin, a similarly sized and toned girl with longer hair wearing a wide blue dress. She looks up and smiles, revealing her eyes. The left is brown, with her right having a redder shade, and a blue stone can be see in her right palm.

"Really, why must those two always be causing trouble?" a soft, feminine voice from behind comments.

"Chillax, Mary, they're just having fun," another, rougher, voice responds.

Steven looks back to look at the pair. The soft voice came from Mary, a slender, pale girl with soft blond hair and a long white dress, a pale white stone set into her forehead. The other voice came from a shorter, dirtier looking boy with long, dirty (in both senses) blond hair and dark brown eyes. He's wearing an old hoodie and a pair of ripped jeans, and through the unzipped hoodie a purple gem can be seen in his chest.

"Honestly, Eric, I'm surprised you haven't joined them," says a voice from Steven's back.

He looks back up and smiles to see the youngest of the group, a young girl with blond hair in two large pigtails and wearing a pair of overalls. "Same here, Beth," Steven replies. "But, they can hold it in for just five more minutes. We're almost at the park."

The boys sigh and slog along in silence, and Steven smiles, thinking about his family. [I still miss the gems, but I know they're not gone, not really. Besides, I still have my family.] His smile grows wider when he looks up from his thoughts to see his oldest friend and wife of eight years, Connie Maheshwaran-Universe, waving from down the boardwalk.

The entire group bursts into a run, and as a group the whole family heads into the amusement park.

All is well in Beach City for the Universe family. But for how long?

We... Are the Crystal Gems...

We will fight til day's end.

No one's gone forever,

They just begin again and again.

We love this world, one and all.

We will rise, we'll never fall.

That's why the people, of this world,

Believe in...the Universe Family,

Two worlds made whole.

In a world torn by war,

Guardians from another land...

Fought and died by their word,

And stood side by side, hand in hand.

When chaos falls from the stars,

We look for strength inside our hearts.

We stand together and we fight back.

One thing we have, courage we won't lack!

And we'll stand on the front line,

We'll never stop, we won't be denied.

And we'll come home to family and friends,

And we'll always remember...

Nothing truly ends.


	2. Interview with a Hero

"So, Mr. Universe, why don't you tell us about your family?"

Alright. Where to begin? Well...

Adam and Eve are the now fifteen-year-old twins born of Garnet, just like she'd said. They each inherited one gem, and they're a lot like their predecessors. Adam has the Ruby gemstone and is as much of a hot-head as the old Ruby. He's a nice guy, though, and knows when to back down (usually because Eve has told him as much). Eve has the Sapphire gem and her personality is almost a dead ringer for the previous one. Calm, focused, somewhat above-it-all kind of attitude. On their own, each twin has the beginnings of the elemental abilities their predecessors were most known for. But, early on they learned about fusion. Together, they make Gabriel, and when they're around it's almost like having Garnet back. They even wear the old shades. Though I've noticed they have something the old pair didn't have: Adam and Eve can communicate telepathically. So, when they do fight unfused, their teamwork is always perfect.

Mary is Pearl's thirteen-year-old daughter, and I think Pearl would be proud. Mary is very polite and likes to keep everything tidy, but she can also be a bit of a nag and is really shy around strangers. She usually hides behind me when we're out, and I can't help but think about Pearl and my own mother. Mary was six when she learned how to project images through her gem, and since then has progressed perhaps the fastest of the kids. She learned to summon her mother's spear when she was only eight, and it made the other kids jealous. She hasn't learned how to make holo-clones yet, but I think she's getting there.

Eric is Amethyst's son, and he recently turned ten. He's definitely his mother's son. Wild, dirty, will eat just about anything, and always up for a party. I can't count the number of times I've had to go pick him up from Sour Cream's club. He hasn't learned how to summon his weapon yet, but I think it's for the best. When he learned how to shape-shift it was a nightmare for a week because he forgot how to change back. We fixed him eventually, but since then we've had a bit of a ban on shape-shifting in the house. (Glad I never told them about the whole "cat-fingers" incident from my childhood. They'd never let me live it down.) Other than that, though, Eric can be an okay kid, and I've noticed that he does give Mary some leeway.

Rodney is Jasper's kid, as if that wasn't obvious. He's fourteen this year, and easily the most troublesome of the lot. He's always getting into fights with Tim and Adam, and he's challenged Connie to no less than fourteen duels this week alone. He always loses, and then he just gets angrier. I've learned the only way to calm him down is to sing to him. He hates it, but when I start to sing he just calms down. He learned how to summon Jasper's helmet when he was twelve, and since then he's been doing his best to perfect it. It didn't take him long to learn how to do the "Comet Dash" as he likes to call it (I'll admit, it works), and he's been itching to fight a gem monster for years. He's got quite the temper and will fly off the handle easily, but he's not a bad kid. Just...high strung.

Lapis's kid is Timothy, who just had his twelfth birthday. He tends to not like other adults and authority figures, and he's almost as bad as Rod when it comes to fighting, but he tends to be a tad more relaxed than that. He hasn't quite figured out water manipulation, but he figured out how to summon his trident. Him and Rod can be found sparring with their weapons most days, and while I hope they never need those skills, I can't say I'm not proud of them. The only person I've never seen him act angry towards, not once, has been little Elizabeth.

Elizabeth is Peridot's "spawn" as she referred to the kids. She's eight (almost nine as she loves to remind us) and is starting to hit her that stage where she thinks she knows everything and will argue with anyone. The problem is that she's a very precocious little girl who's been reading since she was three and I'm pretty sure she knows more about Earth than I do. She tends to regard anyone who isn't family with suspicion, treating them to angry glares, but she grows on you fast, especially if you give her candy. (She has an uncontrollable sweet tooth.) We don't know what she'll be able to do yet, but I could have sworn I saw her move something without touching it last week.

Connie? Oh, Connie's doing good. During the final war with Homeworld, me and her fought side by side (though mostly fused) and I guess it must have helped cement the bond we had. We got married eight years ago, and I'm actually trying to figure out what to do for our anniversary this year. Around the time Garnet first explained she was pregnant, Connie was going to some fancy university up north. I didn't get to see her as much, but I knew how much it meant to her and her parents. She went through medical school like her mother, and when she's not with the family or training, she'll be at the same hospital her mother worked at, saving lives. At home, she uses those skills to fix up a plethora of "boo-boos" that the kids get on a day-to-day basis. One thing is, even after defeating Homeworld, she never stopped training with weapons. I don't even know what all she can use now, but let's just say I feel sorry for any punk that tries to mug her when she leaves the hospital. Kids? No, not yet. We've been too busy dealing with the others to think of having our own. Besides, we don't know what will happen.

Me? Oh. Well, I'm Steven, Steven Universe. I'm thirty-five by now, I think, and I'm still basically me. I'm almost as tall as my mom was, and I've noticed my hair curls like hers did (even noticed some pink highlights here and there; the girls love em). I've more or less mastered my abilities, I'd guess. I can summon bubbles and shields and plant guardians and all sorts of stuff. Other than that, I've become a musician, just like my dad wanted to be. But, when I'm not playing my guitar or playing with the kids, I'll still head to Dad's old carwash and do some regular hard work. Sometimes the kids will come along, but for the most part it's just me. I think Dad would like to hear that after all this time his son still knows what it means to do an honest day's work.

Well, that's us, the Universe family. We're like other families just more...alien, I guess. What, fighting? No, there hasn't been a gem monster seen on Earth in a couple years now, and we already kicked Homeworld off the planet. I'd say that, unless something unexpected happens, things are going to be pretty peaceful around Beach City. Well, as peaceful as it can get with seven and a half raving half breeds running around. (I'll admit, I'm still not the most "adult" adult around, and Mr. Smiley still keeps an eye out when I come around Funland.) Alright, see ya!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Alright, here's some character exposition to help introduce the characters. I have sketches on my DeviantArt version of this post as well. That's WhiteKingMelchior on DeviantArt. The sketches suck, but it's the best I can do.


	3. A Day in the Life of the Universe Family

Beach City is quiet this early morning, the sun just cresting over the horizon, the only sounds the crashing of waves against the shore and the cawing of seagulls just waking up. Down the beach and behind the hill, a large statue is set into the side of the hill, worn by age but cared for. A small house is built into the front of the statue, more recent additions branching off to the side, and an old van sits in front of the house, "Mr. Universe" emblazoned across the side. The city and all the people are resting peacefully, and all seems right in the world.

Steven Universe, half gem and hero of Earth, rests easy in the master bedroom, the soft shape of his wife against his side. They are resting easy, content in the safety and comfort of their family. A soft knock slices through the silence, preceding the soft squeak of hinges as the door opens and closes. Soft footsteps cross the room before a small shape climbs onto the bed, the slight weight barely shifting the occupants of the bed as it makes its way next to the large half-breed. A soft, light voice cuts through.

"Uncle Steven, I had a nightmare."

He cracks one eye and sighs, looking upon the youngest of the Universe family. Elizabeth, with her blond hair down and wearing her jade green pajamas, is sitting on the edge of the bed. Her face is flushed and her eyes are slightly red as if she'd been crying. He smiles softly and raises one arm, ushering her under the blankets to lie next to him.

"It's okay, Beth, it was just a dream. I'm here." She relaxes against his side, falling back asleep quickly. A soft laugh comes from his other side.

"Our big strong hero, protecting us from the monsters under the bed," Connie jokes, pressing a soft kiss on her husband's cheek. Steven chuckles and pulls his arm tighter around her.

"Of course. Besides, boogeymen are nothing compared to these kids. At least I can just bubble the monsters." Connie stifles a giggle and slightly slaps his chest.

Another knock sounds at the door, and the pair look up to see the door open to reveal Eric and Mary, both looking sleepy. Without a word, Connie pats the bed, and the two kids crawl into bed, curling up against the adults. Steven and Connie look at each other, smiling softly. Before they can even fully settle down, yet another knock sounds. The rest of the kids look through the door, eying the bed inquisitively. Steven sighs, waving them in, and within moments the bed is filled with kids. He chuckles, looking over his family.

 _This is what it's all about,_ he thinks, lying back and letting himself enjoy this moment.

"Timothy! Rodney! Stop horsing around and finish your lunch," Connie chides from the stove. The kids in question were pushing each other back and forth on their stools, but they stop quickly and get back to work finishing their burgers.

"Why are you two always causing mayhem?" Adam asks over his own meal. Eve smiles softly, and after a moment, Adam stifles a chuckle.

"Hey, are you two laughing about us? What'd she say?" Rodney asks, leaning over the table a little.

"Rodney!" He sits down quickly at Connie's warning tone, causing the other kids to laugh. Beth shakes her head at her family but smiles softly. "Eric, stop playing with your food."

Mary laughs as the boy in question settles down, putting his forkful of macaroni in his mouth instead of Tim's hair. A roaring outside acts as a sign to send every kid rushing to the door. Connie rolls her eyes but turns off the stove to join them. Outside, Steven is just hopping off of Lion when the kids swarm him. "Make way, mama's coming through." The kids part to let her through, and she leans up to kiss his cheek. "Thank god you're back. These kids..."

Steven laughs and sets a hand on her shoulder. "What'd I say about the boogeymen?" She laughs and steps back, heading inside and shaking her head. Steven smiles at the kids and starts pulling bags out of Lion's mane. "Kids, help me get the groceries in." They all smile, some nodding, some of the more energetic kids bouncing up and down. With all eight half-gems taking their share, it only takes one trip to get all of the groceries inside.

Over the remainder of lunch, Connie and Steven shoot each other several looks, and the kids wait in quiet anticipation. Finally, as Steven finishes the last of his lunch he stands, every kid looks at him with wide eyes. Connie smothers a smile at their excitement but understands it.

"Alright, kids." He holds a pause, letting the kids squirm a little before he smiles. "Time to take a tour of the temple."

The kids all react. Rodney, Tim, and Eric all hoop and holler, while Mary, Eve, and Adam just smile. Beth, for her part, just puts her hands behind her back and keeps a straight face, but Connie notices the slight grin. They eagerly follow the older half-breed into the main room. It's very similar to the way it was in Steven's childhood, but there are some key differences. The entire section of the house that holds the warp pad and temple door is now behind another wall, a large, heavy door connecting it to the rest. Steven reaches into his pocket and pulls out a large key, using it to unlock the door. The kids watch in silence as he opens the door, revealing the stone of the hill and statue.

The kids patiently file through the door, understanding without being told that they should behave, with Connie coming in last. The new room contains only the ever familiar temple door with its star (and three extra gems arrayed in an arc below the main star), and the warp pad, a light blue chunk of mysterious stone in the center. "We'll worry about the warp pad later, for now, focus on the door." The kids obey, locking their eyes on the door with excitement. "We're going to start the tour off in my room. My mother's room." Connie smiles softly at memories of the room, while the kids, all of them, are practically jumping in excitement. Not even Adam and Eve had seen Rose's room before.

Steven steps up to the door, raising his hand. A faint light can be seen through his shirt as the door reacts. A matching gem to his shines, the door opens, and a soft pink light spills out. The kids calm down, seemingly quelled by the light, and head into the room sedately. As Connie steps in, the door closes, causing Mary and Beth to look in worry.

"It's alright, it'll be back when we leave." They nod and look around eagerly. Beth is the first to comment.

"There's nothing in here." The other kids mutter in consent while Steven and Connie share a grin.

"Oh? Well, I see a water slide." The group shouts in surprise at the sudden appearance of a complex water slide, rising up into the air. "No, wait, it's a plane." In the next moment, the slide is gone and a plane can be seen flying overhead. "Or is it a tiny floating whale." As before, the whale appears in the middle of the group, smiling at everyone.

"That is so cool!" Rodney shouts, looking at Steven. "Can it make training dummies?" Tim and Eric immediately jump on the idea, beaming at him alongside their fellow half-gem.

"It can do better than that. Show me the Centipeetle." The kids flinch back as a massive creature appears, standing far over them. It has a black and green body with white fur on the head and acid dripping from its maw. "This is the Centipeetle, the first gem monster I ever defeated...and the first one I tried to befriend." In the next moment, the monster is replaced by a smaller version with only two segments. It seems to smile and sit in front of Steven, leaving the kids in awe. "My mother's room reacts to my gem, granting my desires up to a point. Such as..." He holds out his hand, causing a donut to appear. Eric looks at it hungrily but sighs when it disappears the moment Steven tries to take a bite. "Nothing created by this room is actually real, it is only an illusion created by my mind and memories."

He stops when Mary raises her hand hesitantly, other wrapped around her middle. Steven sighs, nodding at her it seems in resignation, as if he knows what is about to come. "S-so, with this we could see what our m-mothers were like?" The rest of the kids quiet, looking from her to Steven, the same question on their faces. Steven nods slowly and lets the other items fade.

"Before I do this, I must remind you: What you will see are illusions, like the holograms you can create, Mary. Nothing more." She nods slowly, and he asks the rest of the group with his eyes. They nod in assent, but he notices Eric take a step closer to Mary while Tim sets a hand on Beth's shoulder. He smiles sadly at Connie, and she nods, taking a shaky breath. "Alright then. Here we go.

"Show us the Crystal Gems, the Guardians of Earth."

They appear in a line, and the kids gasp. At one end of the line is a tall gem wearing a white dress with massive pink curls falling around her face. In her stomach is a pink gem. Next to her stands a tall, violet skinned gem with an afro and wearing sunglasses. Before Garnet stands two smaller gems, one red, one blue. Next in line is a tall, lithe figure wearing an elegant outfit and with a white stone set in her forehead, followed by a shorter gem with long light purple hair and a purple gem visible through the top of their shirt. Beside them, stands a large orange gem with wild white hair, as well as a more average sized gem of deep blue and a shorter gem with yellow-green hair and a triangular gem in their forehead.

The kids look at them in silent awe, and it only takes a moment for each to step up to the image of their respective mothers. Steven smiles softly, noticing how much each is like their mother, but how unique they are. Connie walks up beside him and grabs his hand in her own, squeezing softly. He squeezes back and lets himself look at the image of his own mother. _We've come such a long way, things have changed so much. But in a way, they're the same as always._ He looks back over the kids and smiles. _They're all so wonderful and their lives have only just begun. Who knows what adventures they will have..._

"Kids. Come on. There's still more to see. I still have to show you the rest of the rooms." They all break away from the images of their parents, some with more difficulty than others, before lining up before him. He lets the images fade and waves his hand, revealing a strange pole or tube. "Follow me!" he shouts suddenly, jumping onto and sliding down the pipe. Grinning, the kids follow one by one, Connie once again bringing up the rear.

At the bottom, Steven waits to catch each child and set them down. The kids look around in wonder at the room around them, staring up at all of the bubbles. "What is this place?" Adam asks, unconsciously holding onto Eve's hand.

Steven smiles and steps forward, flinging his arms wide. "This is the containment room, also called Garnet's room. This is where we either stored every gem monster we caught and disposed of highly dangerous relics. Each and every gem in here was like our mothers once, but they fell to corruption and were turned into monsters." They gasp at this and huddle closer together. "Don't worry, they can't break out of the bubbles on their own. Come on, next room's this way."

The tour moves quickly after that, stopping off at a room filled with junk ("It isn't junk," Eric argued. It's treasure!") before heading to one filled with fountains and water ("It's so beautiful," Mary commented.) After that, they visited a room filled with trees and large stones, all of which bear marks of collision ("This is so cool," Rodney exclaimed, taking a shot at a tree before shaking his hand in pain.) After that was a room with a single island in the middle of a deep pool of water ("Gnarly!" is Timothy's response) and one filled with consoles and old parts (Elizabeth just took everything in with a look of silent awe.)

"Alright guys, that's the temple. What do you think?" They all talk at once in their excitement, and Steven lets them go on for a minute before silencing them. "I know what you all want. You want to see if you can open your doors, don't you?" They all nod eagerly, even the usually tamer girls. "Let's go see then." They file out of the door that Steven opens, and look around in awe to see themselves back in the entrance room. "Who's up first?"

A small flash of light precedes the appearance of Adam and Eve's fusion, Gabriel. "We're up." The other kids step back to let them try, while Steven and Connie watch with interest. After a moment, though, Gabriel steps back and unfuses. "We can't open it, not yet," the twins say in unison.

"My turn!" Rodney shouts, jumping forward and essentially headbutting the door. The younger kids laugh in amusement while he tries opening it again. "Aw man..."

The kids go through like this, none able to open their doors. Finally, Beth steps forward, and Steven gets ready to lead everyone back into the main part of the house. But he stops in surprise when Beth's gem and the matching one on the door start to glow. The door splits down and across the middle into four sections, peeling away with green energy before revealing the room beyond.

"Congratulations, Beth. How'd you know how to do it?" Steven asks, incredibly impressed.

"Oh, well, I assumed the door was set to accept the particular resonance of each gem when activated, so I thought of the room and it opened." The other kids look at her in confusion, but Connie smiles. "Does this mean I can move my stuff into here?"

Steven shrugs, crossing his arms. "If you want. It is your room." The others grumble in annoyance since they boys all share one room while the girls are in another. Beth looks at the door for another moment before closing it and shaking her head.

"I'm not ready, not yet."

Connie nods her head, impressed at the level of maturity shown by the youngest member of the family. "Alright, tour's over. Class starts in ten minutes, so go get your stuff." They all scramble through the door to head to their rooms, and Steven grins. "That means you too, you goofball. You still have stuff to learn about history, too." He laughs and kisses her cheek before leaving.

"...and with that, we'll call it a day," Connie says, setting down the history book in her hands. "Next week, we'll talk more about the Industrial Age and it's effects on people around the world." The kids all put up their stuff and start talking, while Connie looks over the notes she'd written down about each of her "students" and their progress, looking with pleasure at Beth's scores.

"Hey, who wants to go out for pizza tonight?" Steven asks, getting nods from the kids and Connie. "Alright, meet out by the van in ten minutes!" The kids rush off to get ready while Connie leans against Steven's back. "I thought you could use the break tonight." She nods thankfully against his back and laughs.

A few minutes later finds the Universe family packed into the family van and driving down the street. The iconic van has been fixed up in recent years, now with added rows of seats into the back for the kids. The twins and Rodney sit in the back, with the rest of the kids filling up the middle row of seats. Connie mans the passenger seat, and Lion claims the furthest back of the van. The Universe family drives down the beach and onto the Boardwalk, the kids chattering in the background. It doesn't take long to reach Fish Stew Pizza, and the kids rush to the door in excitement. Lion hops out before jumping on top of the van to take a nap.

Inside, the restaurant is quiet except for the bickering of the gem kids, and Jenny is manning the counter this evening.

"Hey, Steven. Eating out tonight, I see."

"Hey, Jenny. Yeah, I decided to treat the family to some pizza."

"Alright. So, the usual?" Steven nods and the two laugh together. "Alright, they'll be out in five minutes." Connie hands over the money for the meal and the family finds a couple of tables and commandeers them. It's a slow night, so they have the pizzeria to themselves.

Right on time, three pizzas come out on a trolley, one half-pepperoni-half-cheese for the twins and Steven, one half-meat lovers-half-Hawaiian for Rodney, Eric, and Tim, and a half-vegetarian-half-black olives for Connie, Beth, and Mary.

They talk and laugh, and after a while Jenny, Kiki, and Buck come out and chat with them. Steven reminisces with them about their younger days, and they have a pleasant evening. Then, with tired, full kids in tow, Steven and Connie bid them farewell and file back into the van. Lion yawns, disturbed from his nap, but is fine when Steven slips him a couple slices of pizza. Back home, the kids get ready for bed, and by ten every kid is asleep.

"Man, that never gets any easier," Steven comments, making Connie giggle.

"Yeah, well, it's not bad, either, having this big family." She smiles when Steven hugs her from behind. "I wonder when we'll get to add our own little bundle of joy to the bunch?" she asks but starts laughing when Steven tickles her. "Steven!"  
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I'm really sorry about that craziness earlier, I tend to have no control over whether or not it does that, and it doesn't even show up for me when I first post the chapter.

Alright, so here's the next part of my new fic series, SU-Z! From here on, I sort of want to do a series of shorter pieces that better show how things have changed, as well as use this chance to answer some questions. So, post a question or whatever below and I'll answer it in the next edition if possible.


	4. Gem Days

I am sorry about the glitching, it doesn't even show up for me for a while, and I haven't found any way to stop it from happening.  
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Another peaceful day in Beach City, the sound of waves breaking against the shore dominating the scene. At least until an excited shout breaks through.

"Take that!" Tim shouts, bringing his practice sword to bear against Rodney's. The other hybrid meets the blow head on, grinning as he pushes his training partner back. Connie watches the two boys trade blows back and forth before calling the match to a close after five minutes. The pair pant and grin at each other. "Next time, Rodney, you're mine."

"Bring it, Tim," he answers, smiling.

"Yeah yeah, macho men, now go clean up," Connie orders, standing.

The boys laugh and run off to put up their practice weapons and take a dip in the ocean to cool off. Off to the side, Mary and Elizabeth are watching quietly as Steven shows off some sword skills, Eric following along. The younger half gem looks incredibly focused as he follows along, grinning from time to time at Mary on the sidelines. Adam and Eve are off on their own, meditating side by side. Connie takes a seat beside Mary and Elizabeth, asking the older girl if she'd like to practice with her spear.

"O-oh, okay."

Connie stands, whistling to Lion. He bounds over, and at a glance his forehead shines, a long wooden staff appearing. Connie takes it and gives it a few practice spins before taking up her stance. Mary takes a deep breath before raising her hands up. Her body seems to flow as she spins in a slow circle and reaches up, light shining from her gem as she draws her spear out. Her eyes open slowly as she looks down and sees it. "Ready?" Connie asks, disturbing the girl from her revery. Mary nods quickly, gripping her spear like she's been shown.

Mary makes the first move, light on her feet and plunging forward. Connie deflects the spear to the side, but Mary reacts and turns it into a spin to strike from the other side. Connie uses a two-handed block to stop the spear cold before pushing forward and throwing Mary off balance. She responds by rolling back, quickly standing and blocking an upward strike...that never came. Connie came in from the side, stopping her staff an inch away from the girl's side.

Mary sighs and steps back, bowing. Connie bows back and plants her staff. "Not bad, Mary, you're getting better. But you mustn't always resort to the same blocks and forms. Adapt to the battle. Don't react, just act." Mary nods and lets her spear fade before sitting down and taking a deep, calming breath. Beth pats her back softly in silence.

Tim and Rodney return about then, soaking wet and laughing as Steven finishes his lesson with Eric. "Hey, Uncle Steven, can Tim and I practice with our weapons now?" Rodney asks excitedly. Steven scratches his chin in thought before shrugging. A glance at Connie gets them an additional shrug, and the boys whoop before taking their stances.

Rodney stamps his feet, pumping himself up before rocking his head forward, summoning his crash helmet. Tim weaves his hands together before doing a backflip, landing with a hand behind his back that draws his trident. Eric mutters jealously, "Showoff." Steven sighs and sets a hand on the youngest boy's shoulder.

Tim and Rodney get right into it like usual, both immediately going for a direct strike. Tim brings his trident down in a powerful swipe, blocked by Rodney's helmet, a resonate tone ringing out. They continue like this, constantly trying to outdo the other. Tim spins and stabs with his trident, trying ever angle he can, while Rodney just keeps pushing forward, blocking much with his helm or his bare hands. Eventually, Steven steps in and ends it.

"Alright, you two, it's a tie." The boys stand panting and grinning at each other. "So, has everyone had their fill of combat training for the day?" The kids and Connie all nod, smiling at what's next. "Alright, time to practice gem powers!" The kids shout excitedly, and even Connie lets herself clap a little. "So, anyone been practicing and would like to show what they've learned?"

"Uncle Steven!" Eric rushes forward first, bouncing in anticipation. "I learned how to shape-shift into something else." Steven groans internally before motioning to continue. Eric laughs and spins around. When he stops, he sits on his now haunches, grinning a toothy grin. He's turned into a purple version of Lion, and Steven laughs in relief.

"Very good job, Eric. You're getting better at this." Eric smiles at Steven's praise, proud to be recognized. He changes back and sits down. "Who's next?"

Tim jumps forward, bouncing up and down. Steven and Connie can't help but grin, already guessing what it is. Tim throws out his hand dramatically toward the water, and as the wave comes in, it doesn't go back out. He pulls it closer, and it lifts off of the ground in a continuous tendril. He gathers the water together into a sphere, grinning at his audience. Beth starts clapping first, smiling softly. He sends it back to the ocean as everyone congratulates him, even Rodney putting down his pride to be impressed.

Steven asks if anyone else has anything to show, but with no responses breaks them off for lunch, saying that gem history started after they eat and have a small break. He smiles as the kids run off, laughing and joking. Connie takes his hand and smiles. "They're growing up so fast." Steven nods sagely, smiling softly.

"I didn't even learn to use any of my powers til I was twelve, a while after that until I could control any of them. And look at em go."

Connie sighs and leans up, giving her husband a soft kiss on the cheek. "The Gems would be proud of you." Steven nods, his smile sad now. "Come on, you don't expect the kids to cook their own lunch, do you?" She laughs, pulling him along by the hand.

Steven laughs, following. "After that debacle with Eric's spaghetti? Not even."

As the Universe family eats their lunch, Eric turns to Steven with a question. "Hey, Uncle Steven, you said you tried to rehabilitate those gems in the temple, right?" Connie and Steven stop mid-bite, looking at each other. "Did it not work?"

Steven sighs, sitting back. "Well, it almost worked, at least for the Centipeetle. But, I never really had a chance to try again. And, I suppose I never thought of trying again." He nods slowly. "Maybe it's time to try again."

"Can I help?" Eric asks excitedly, causing Mary and Connie to chuckle. After a moment, Adam looks at Eve and laughs lightly. "Hey, stop laughing at me!"

"Now calm down, Eric. Sure, you can help. We can start tomorrow. Before that, though, Gem History." Eric, Tim, and Rodney all groan, causing Steven to grin wryly. "Hey, remember. You're all half-gem, too. You need to know about that half of your heritage, too. Now come on, today we're covering something interesting. The Rebellion." This gets the kids all excited. He never talked much about what he had learned of Rose's Rebellion on Earth, only giving them bits and pieces, but now they get the full story.

Seated in the living room, the gem kids all look up at Steven in excitement, even Eve and Beth are more animated than usual. Steven lets them stew a moment before growing serious, causing them to give a collected shiver.

"The Rebellion is the single most important event in Gem history on Earth, the moment a group of gems decided to stand against the destruction of worlds for the sake of Homeworld's conquests. My mother, Rose Quartz, led the rebellion and succeeded in throwing Homeworld off of Earth. She fought alongside like-minded gems and even humans stood to fight. It was a long, terrible fight, but in the end, Earth was able to find peace of sorts. After that, though, the gems went into hiding, isolating themselves away from the humans. That's because they faced a very serious threat: Corruption."

The kids listen in rapt attention as the older hybrid speaks. "Something had...changed, perhaps because of what happened during the rebellion, perhaps something caused by Earth. But gems began to grow sick, and it wasn't long before the true terror was discovered. The Corruption would begin in the limbs of their construct, but once it reached their gem...they became twisted, monstrous versions with only one goal: Destruction. Many gems of the rebellion succumbed to the Corruption, all but Rose's inner circle. So, they began to seek out and collect the corrupted, saving them from themselves in the hope of one day curing them."

After their Gem history lesson, Steven let the kids have the rest of the afternoon off, reminding them to be home for dinner. With the kids about doing whatever, Connie and Steven decided to take the time to relax together alone in their room. Steven holds his wife close, lost in his memories before his thoughts move to something equally disconcerting. "Hey, Connie. You ever wonder...if the kids think about their fathers?" Connie scowls a little at the question before nodding.

"Well, I would think so. Remember, in the end we are still just 'Uncle Steven' and 'Aunt Connie.' Doubtless they wonder about their human sides..."

"What if...they want to go be with their dads?" Connie sighs at her husband's worried tone. "Or if their dads decide they want them. I don't think we'd have any right to deny them."

Connie sighs before leaning up to softly kiss Steven. "Steven, if that does happen and they decide to go with them... Well, it's their choice, I suppose. We can't deny them something like that. What if you'd never been able to meet your dad?"

Steven frowns, looking away. "I think it's getting time to tell them about their dads."

Connie nods slowly before kissing his cheek. "But not today. We'll talk about it in the next couple days when there's nothing going on." Steven nods, smiling again. "Now, I know for a fact that the kids are hanging out at the arcade for at least the next two hours..."

Steven smirks, rolling over and kissing Connie, laughing together.

Late that night, as the entire Universe family sleeps, a black van drives into Beach City, dropping off a lone passenger before leaving. The man's blond hair is loose and his eyes gleam behind a pair of glasses as he looks upon a storefront. "Good to be home."

At the same time, deep inside the temple, something dark stirs, rustling through the shadows, waiting for the right moment.

So sorry about how long this has taken. I've been heavily preoccupied by college life, as well as not having much motivation/inspiration for what to write. Anyhoo, I'm going to start up the main conflict of the story next chapter. Remember, always ready to answer questions and take suggestions.


	5. Coming Storm

The next morning, the kids wake up excited to see what the day will bring.

"I can't wait to see the Centipeetle in person," Eric exclaims while brushing his teeth. Tim is more subdued in the morning, just nodding along as he lazily moves the toothbrush around.

"I wonder if we'll have to fight it," Rodney adds, brushing his teeth quickly. "That'd be pretty cool."

"Dude, stop and think. This is still a very dangerous monster," Adam chides, finishing up and setting his toothbrush up. "You play around, you're going to get hurt."

"You can't say you don't want to try out your abilities on something other than one of us," Rodney counters, grinning. Adam sighs and smiles a little before heading out.

In the girls' restroom, a very different conversation about the same topic is going on.

"So, how do you girls feel about meeting the Centipeetle?" Eve asked, brushing her hair carefully.

Mary, not much of a morning person, shrugs noncommittally. Beth quickly brushes her teeth and looks at Eve. "It will be fine. If something goes wrong, Uncle Steven will keep us safe."

Eve smiles at the youngest girl's faith in their guardian. Mary nods lightly in agreement, putting down her toothbrush.

In the kitchen, as they prepare breakfast, Steven and Connie were talking as well. "So, you already grabbed the bubble?"

"Yes."

"And you set up the area to contain it?"

"Uh huh."

"Plant warriors ready just in case?"

"Connie, I read your memo, it's all done. I even made sure to inform Buck that we were doing this so there wouldn't be a panic."

Connie smiles and leans up, kissing her husband's cheek. "I'm proud of you." He laughs and kisses her back as the first of the kids wander in.

As everyone finishes breakfast, there's an obvious and silent excitement among the kids, even the more subdued girls. "Alright, clean up the dishes and we'll head outside." The kids hopped up, and Connie had never seen them work so fast. Within minutes, the dishes were put away, the kitchen was cleaned, and every kid was waiting by the door. Connie ushered them outside as Steven went to grab the bubble.

The kids watched in awe as Steven stepped out of the house, a bubbled gem in hand. Outside, a ring had been set up, or more accurately set in—to the ground, ten feet down. To help contain the released gems. The bubble had a light pink sheen and inside rested a dark green gem with black lines over it. "Is that-?" Eric asks tentatively. Steven nods and chuckles before dropping down into the pit.

The kids took their spots all around the pit, Connie taking point with several weapons planted into the ground beside her. Down below, Steven took a deep breath and let the bubble float free. "Time to catch up, old friend." The bubble popped, the gem immediately starting to glow and float above the ground. Steven took this chance to jump back out as he saw the familiar reformation process. He watched as the gem made the base form, wondering if this time it'll form correctly. This hope is quickly dashed as the energy surges up, coalescing into the gargantuan form of the Mother Centipeetle. It roars out in challenge, head still five feet above the pit.

It leaned down, but before it could attack and bathe them in acid, Steven held out his hands, putting a large bubble around the monster. The kids all watched it writhe and roar inside, trapped behind the glimmering pink sphere. Eric and Rodney were watching with excitement while Mary and Beth were more afraid. The rest of the group was simply waiting, quietly, watching what would happen. Connie watched closely, a hand already wrapped around a sword.

Steven stepped close and set his hand against the bubble. "Centipeetle, look at me." The massive corrupted beast turned to face him, battering its head against the bubble. "Centipeetle, stop that!" It seemed to flinch, looking at him strangely. "Do you want some chaps?" he asks suddenly, pulling out a bag. At the sight of the snack, the monster seemed to lower its hackles, crouching down more. Steven carefully lowered the bubble and tossed the bag inside its mouth. It started munching rabidly, acid spittle flying around. As it did this, Steven stepped close, laying his hand on its mouth. It froze and looked at him, acid dripping slowly from between its mandibles. "Centipeetle, it's me, Steven. Don't you remember? The chaps, the seagulls, the cave..." The kids watched in awe as this monster slowly relaxed, making soft clicking noises.

Suddenly, it began to glow brightly, and the next thing they knew a smaller centipeetle was standing on the edge of the pit, looking up at Steven, it seemed, with excitement. "That's a good Centipeetle." Steven smiled and knelt down with another bag, which the miniature monster happily devoured. Connie sighed in relief, stepping away from her weapons as the kids start to crowd around. "Not too close, kids. Centipeetle gets a little...wary around other people."

Despite this warning, when the Centipeetle looked around it clicked happily, actually walking up to Eric. The young boy smiled softly as he knelt down to gently pet the creature. Steven smiled and chuckled though Connie still seemed worried. The other kids soon got over their trepidation and took turns petting the small gem. "It's like a dog!" Tim exclaimed before hissing and pulling his hand back. A small drop of acid had hurt his hand, and Centipeetle pulled back, whining in sorrow. "No, it's okay, see?" Tim assured it, holding his hand out. It took a moment, but Centipeetle relaxed, stepping forward to nuzzle against Steven's leg.

After a few minutes and even Beth laughing as she happily pet the black and green creature, Steven said it's time to show Centipeetle where it will live until it's no longer corrupted. Ever the hopeful, Steven had built a small doghouse like contraption under the stairs, next to where Lion sleeps. The pink feline looked at his new roommate suspiciously before ignoring the gem monster.

Back inside the house, Eric was ecstatic, much to Steven's amusement. "That was amazing! When are we going to try another gem monster?" he asked, and Steven thought for a moment.

"Not for a couple weeks. I want us to work with Centipeetle first, then we can get to the others." Eric sighed but perked up soon after. "But you can be in charge of feeding Centipeetle if you want." He smiled and bounced in place, causing Steven to laugh and sweep the boy up in a hug.

Tim, seeing this, bounded over and jumped onto Steven's back, laughing the whole time. It was a domino effect as Rodney saw and joined the pile, followed by Connie, body slamming onto the pile with a cackle. Mary laughed as she walked in and saw them. She tried to sit to the side, but Eric reached out to take her hand, drawing her into the massive group glomp occurring in the living room. Adam and Eve were the next to enter, neither hesitating to join the pile at the edges, arms wrapping around their guardians happily.

"Cannonball!" The sudden shout surprises the pile of bodies, as Beth dropped from who knows where to land on Connie's back with a laugh. A moment later and the whole pile started to collapse, with Steven shaking his head clear on the bottom and Beth sitting on top and laughing. Everyone else lies somewhere between them, both literally and figuratively, with Tim and Eric laughing while Mary just sighs. But soon everyone's laughing, just enjoying what it means to be a family and to be together.

Later that night, after everyone was finished with dinner and the twins were taking care of the dishes, Eric headed outside with a bowl of pet food with some chaps mixed in. By the bottom of the steps, he turns back and heads beneath them. There he finds Lion, laying inside a finely crafted room, and Centipeetle, resting on a padded wooden palette. Eric smiles widely as he steps forward. Lion ignores him, having already eaten that night, but Centipeetle hops up, clicking happily at the sight of food. Eric sets the bowl down for him and sits down legs crossed next to it, watching the gem devour its food, smiling softly.

"Hey, maybe when we fix you we'll be able to hang out together," he comments offhandedly, resting his chin on his hand with his elbow on his knee. "I can show you all the fun places around town. Like the Salty Sailor! It's this really cool dance club in town. You'll love it."

Centipeetle looked up at the young boy, clicking joyfully and tail shaking. Eric reached out and scratched behind the gem's head, laughing softly at its reaction. A sudden shout above catches his attention. "Eric, come on, it's time to get ready to bed down," Connie called out of the door. "You got five minutes!" The door shut with a clack and Eric sighed. Centipeetle clicked somewhat sadly as Eric stands.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Centipeetle." Eric waved goodbye to Centipeetle's clicking.

Back inside, he rushed to the bathroom to brush his teeth, passing by Tim on the way. "You feed Centipeetle?" the other boy asked, to which Eric nodded. "Cool. I get to tomorrow night."

"Centipeetle really likes those chaps." Eric stopped, leaning against the wall as he speaks.

"Yeah, though I'm surprised Uncle Steven has any. Weren't they discontinued three years ago?" Tim asked, now stopped to talk. "Something about the preservatives or something." Eric shrugs and gets back to walking. "Hey, Eric?" The younger hybrid stopped, turning to look at his companion. Tim's voice was serious, hesitant. "Have you ever...thought about...your dad?" Eric flinches a little before nodding his head slowly. "I wish Uncle Steven would tell us more about our mothers. Maybe even our dads..."

Eric nodded his head and entered the bathroom, sedate from the conversation, a look of deep concentration on his face.

The next few days fall into a rhythm. They go through their regular class schedules, adding in training with Centipeetle. Each day, the family went out and Steven would coax Centipeetle from beneath the stairs. From there, he would lead the corrupted gem through a routine, rewarding it with chaps and carefully chiding it whenever it got out of hand, such as when he almost ruined Eric's favorite jacket with a stray stream of acid. This happened on the third day of the gem's training and nearly prompted Connie to draw her sword.

"Wait!" Eric shouted before she could do anything. Centipeetle was already cowering behind Steven, scared and worried. The other kids were watching with rapt attention at the scene before them, as Eric stood between Connie and the gem. Eric took a couple steps forward, kneeling down to look at it. "Hey, it's okay. See? I'm fine." Centipeetle soon relaxed, stepping out from behind Steven hesitantly, relaxing again after Eric spent a minute petting it. "See? It's okay. Just be careful next time." Centipeetle hopped in place, back to normal it seemed, and the entire mood seemed to settle down a bit.

"Impressive, Eric," Steven complimented the boy, causing him to smile widely. "Hopefully, soon we'll figure out how to get rid of the corruption, and we'll get to meet her."

"Really?" Everyone grew excited at this, crowding around him eagerly and asking questions.

"Yes, but for now, let's head inside, it's time for supper." As everyone filed in, Eric stayed behind to lead Centipeetle back to its bed. Back inside, Steven waved him over to talk, while the other kids got to chores around the house and Connie started on the meal. "Eric, I'm really proud of how you held it together. … I wanted to tell you a little story about your mother." Eric gasped, sitting down heavily next to the much larger and older half-breed. "When I first tried to train Centipeetle, it was difficult to...aim the acid blasts. I came in squawking and showing off, and Centipeetle blasted Amethyst's sandwich, and she was not happy. It was funny, and afterward we laughed about it."

"Was... Was my mother like that a lot?"

Steven nodded, smiling at the young boy. "Yeah. Very relaxed, not a fan of responsibility, but loyal to the end." Eric looked at Steven wide-eyed, enraptured by this look into his mother's life.

"What about my mom?" Steven looked up in surprise at Mary's hesitant question. He saw that Tim and Beth were close behind, the twins and Rodney just entering the room. Steven sighed and decided to tell them.

"Well, where to begin... Mary, your mother would certainly be proud of how you've turned out. She was a stickler for manners, cleanliness, rules, and in general keeping the order." Mary stared in silence as he turned to Tim. "Tim, Lapis was my good friend. At first she was wary, even hostile of the Crystal Gems, but after a while I was able to get her to relax and after that everything went more smoothly." As Tim brooded over this, Steven turned to the remaining questioning gaze. "Peridot was...particular. She was a bit distrustful, could be abrasive even to me at times, and I was never quite certain about what was going through her head. But after I finally gained her trust, I found that she was a kind, intelligent, and innovative individual who just needed an environment in which she could be...free." The kids all sat in silence, pondering what they'd learned, when the fateful question was asked.

"And...our dads?" Beth asked quietly, wrapping her arms around herself. That question brought a different tone to the silence in the room, one noticeably more tense.

"Tomorrow," Connie answered, entering the room and undoing the mood. "For now, it's time to eat and after that we're watching a movie together, alright?" The kids nodded, feeling a tad more upbeat with the promise of a family movie as they went to clean up for supper. Once their final charge left the room, Steven collapsed back against the couch with a sigh. "You're welcome, love."

"Thank you, I did not know how I was going to resolve that situation. At least now I have some time to think about it..." Connie laughed lightly as she sat down on her husband's lap, wrapping her arms around the tall man and undoing his ponytail. Steven sighed at the release of pressure on his scalp. "That feels better." Connie giggled and started running her fingers through his hair, letting the dense curls bounce around his face.

"I thought you could use an out and a little time to relax. Why don't you leave your hair loose for tonight? We rarely get to see your hair like this." Steven smiled, taking one of her hands in his own and lacing their fingers together.

"I'll take the ponytail out after dinner so I don't get anything in it." Connie nodded and sighed, leaning against him. "Connie, you okay? You've seemed more tired recently."

"I'm fine. Just these kids, you know?" She smiled down at him lovingly in response to his worrying. "Now come on, time to eat."

On the opposite side of the city, in the mayor's house, another group was getting ready for dinner. Jenny and Kiki were preparing dinner when the knock came at the door. Buck went to open it, sighing at the guest. "Ronaldo. Sup."

"Mayor," the blond man greeted, inclining his head out of respect.

"Hey man, I'm not the mayor right now. I'm just an old friend." Ronaldo nodded, stepping inside.

"Sorry, force of habit. Those government types get real picky about positions and proper respect," he explains as Buck leads him inside toward the dining room.

"Jenny, set another place at the table. Ronaldo came to visit."

"Hey, Ronaldo," Kiki said, waving to the man, her sister following her lead before setting another spot.

As the four sat down to eat, an obvious question was in the air, but it took a minute for Buck to ask it. "What's up?"

"Well, I was wondering something... What have you heard about...the kids?" Buck sighed suddenly, slumping in his chair a little. Jenny walked up behind him, rubbing his shoulders as the mayor looked over his guest.

"Well, lemme tell you what Steven's been telling me..."

O 

So, I'm uber mega super sorry about how delayed this has been. First I had finals, then I came home for Christmas and had no wifi, then I got preoccupied getting ready for the Spring, but you know what, I finally got it down, and hopefully the next chapter will come sooner than this one did.

Also really sorry about this coding format crap that keeps happening. I have absolutely no control over that and I'm just as annoyed as you are.


	6. Everything Changes

As a new day dawned over Beach City, Connie awoke earlier than usual. She wasn't feeling well as she made her way over to the bathroom to take some medicine and hopefully relieve the pain. She'd rather be running on full-steam for the day ahead, especially after last night. The morning started up like usual, with the kids all joking and wreaking havoc while they eat, Steven barely better behaved than the kids. The girls, as usual, are tamer. Admittedly, every once in a while Adam will start chuckling at something only he and Eve heard, and once even burst out in uncontrollable laughter. It was a good, fun morning. But as the dishes were cleared away and it was getting close to what would regularly be class time, the mood in the house began to grow tense, questions seeming to form on the faces of the children until there was no more putting it off.

Steven and Connie led their charges into the living room, settling them all on the couch before taking up position before them. Connie was wringing her hands slightly, unsure of the situation, almost afraid. But Steven seemed more in control. "Adam, Eve, Rodney, you three already know about your dads. Jamie and ol' Mr. Smiley respectively." The three nod, but Steven notices an odd expression on Eric's face out the corner of his eye. He was almost ready to put it off as apprehension about learning about his dad when the young boy sat forward.

"U-uncle Steven... I...already know my dad." The other kids looked at him in surprise while Steven sighed, expecting as much. "Two years ago, the day we had that big fight about using my powers so wildly and I ran into town. I wasn't watching where I was going and I ran into someone. They laughed and looked at me, and when I looked up... Well, I told him about what happened and he said he knew where I was coming from. He told me to follow him, and I did, and we ended up at the dance club. We talked more, and eventually he told me about...being my dad."

"I thought that was why you'd always head off to Sour Cream's place..." Steven sighed, kneeling down in front of the boy. "I know I made you angry that day, but you didn't have to hide that you knew this." Steven smiled softly as Eric wiped his face, the beginnings of tears in his eyes. "The only reason we haven't told you all this before is because it was agreed by your parents in the beginning. Your fathers agreed that it would be best for Connie and I to take care of you and teach you, since we're sort of the experts." The kids nodded slowly, accepting his explanation as the larger hybrid stood. "Now then, who's first?"

But before anyone could volunteer, a sudden boom distracted them as the house shook. Steven moved immediately, tackling the sturdy door that separates the house from the temple and shattering it with a mighty crunch, unfazed as he lands on the other side. Connie followed close behind, grabbing a sword stashed behind the fridge on her way while the twins fused into Gabriel, an intense expression on their face. Rodney and Tim, not ones to be left out of anything, did their best to come up behind, but Gabriel stopped them.

"You two protect the younger ones. We can handle this."

Angry, the kids shook their heads, almost in unison. "We're part of this family, we'll fight together." Without any fanfare, the two summoned their weapons and donned serious expressions. Gabriel sighed and grinned, finally ceding to their will.

"Then let's go."

While this was going on, Mary was dragging a furious Eric outside with a stoic Beth at her side. "You can't help them. You can't even summon your weapon! You'll only get yourself hurt," she tried to reason, but to no avail.

"No! I will not run away!" With a sudden shout and a glow of his gem, Eric broke free and rushed forward, taking the form of Lion. Not long before the actual Lion came forth, in fact, roaring out a challenge to whatever may threaten his home. Eric grinned wide when he saw Centipeetle following the pink beast, changing back to approach the gem. "Centipeetle! We can do this, together!" Centipeetle clicked in agreement, following the boy to the shattered door.

Mary sighed, hanging her head and mumbling to herself, when she was distracted by a slight tug on her dress. It was little Beth, looking up at her calmly. "When they get through the door, I need to get to my mother's room. Will you watch my back?" The older girl was surprised by the level-headed child and could only nod numbly.

Meanwhile, Gabriel had opened the door to the gem containment room. Steven and Connie were the first ones through, Connie wielding a rapier and Steven with his ever-famous shield. After them came Gabriel, gauntlets flashing into existence as they look around. Tim and Rodney came next, one after the other, ready to take down anything. Lastly came Eric, leading Centipeetle with Lion covering his back. As they all entered, the door shut, leaving Mary and Beth outside. Steven glanced back, a sudden deadpan expression on his face.

"Kids..."

But before he can chide them, another explosion rang out, shaking them roughly now that they were in the temple itself. A sudden sound from above caught the group's attention, and Steven stared in shock at what he saw. The Slinker, easily ten times the size it was in his own youth, was burrowing its way into the chamber and popping bubbles. The first of the gems fell around them and soon after started to glow. Steven made a split-second decision.

"Retreat!" As he shouted his order, Gabriel had already turned and opened the door, ushering the younger members back into the main part of the house. Connie followed next while Steven raised his shield high, expanding it to maximum size to block the door and ensure his family got through safely. Already the monsters had noticed him and each other and it was pure pandemonium in the chamber as monsters struck blindly at each other and at the shield. Fortunately, the shield held strong, barely budging against even the most colossal of strikes. Unfortunately, one gem had fallen inside of the range and took a moment longer to reform. Suddenly, a glowing shape appeared, after a moment twisting into a massive blowfish. Steven shouted out a warning, and it was a stroke of luck that Lion noticed and roared, dazing the corrupted gem. After that was done, the massive feline picked up Centipeetle and Eric, lunging through the door and taking them outside.

With his family safe, Steven dropped his shield and made a run for the door, dodging strikes from all manner of beasts. He narrowly avoided an invisible hulk, only noticing it from a massive worm-like creature smashing into it and stopping. Steven leaped high over them and rolled to a stop on the other side of the door. "Close the door!" he shouted needlessly, as Gabriel was already on it. However, they were too late, as the first of the gems rocketed through the temple door, tearing through the house in a mad rush for freedom. The tide was unstoppable, and the Universe family could do little but cower and avoid stray limbs and spikes.

Soon, the tide came to an abrupt stop, the last of the corrupted having fled the temple to cause untold mayhem across the world. Slowly, the Universe family pulled themselves back together, standing up and observing the damage. Adam and Eve returned, Adam angry. "We couldn't stop them."

"You can't blame yourself, Adam," Steven said as he stood and set his hand on the boy's shoulder. "We all tried our best."

"Where are Beth and Mary?" Connie asked suddenly. Everyone started looking around furiously when suddenly the temple door opened to reveal a calm Beth and a shell-shocked looking Mary. Connie ran forward, throwing her arms around the young girls tightly. Mary started to come to and hugged back, breathing deeply, while Beth responded with that same unnatural calm. "Why were you two in the temple?"

"Aunt Connie, we have something else to worry about right now," the youngest of the group said, pointing a slim finger at the hole in the side of the house.

Outside, one monster had stayed behind, a large spider-like entity with four bladed limbs for feet and an almost plant-like maw atop it. Connie stood, her gaze growing hard. She snapped her fingers and Lion leaped forward, eyes glowing as the pommel of a sword appeared in a flash of pink light. Connie gripped the handle and pulled it free, revealing a large saber still in its sheath, though not for long. She drew the blade with a slight whistle, the edge still unnaturally sharp, and stood firm next to her husband. Steven had his shield back, standing to his wife's left with a similar expression. "Everyone, stay back," they stated together.

The kids huddle together, watching in awe as their guardians stepped forward, warriors again. The initial collision is intense and startling, as the monster dashed forward to meet them head on. Steven stepped forward, stopping it cold with a massive backhanded swing from his shield. Connie dashed forward in his shadow, and as the beast recoiled she swung, severing a leg at the joint. The corrupted gem roared out and stumbled back, but the two old friends weren't done. Taking this chance, Connie leaped backwards without a glance onto Steven's shield, already prepped to launch her high into the air. The gem had no time to react at all as Connie came down, spinning to lop off another leg. The battle was looking more like a slaughter up to this point, but it almost turned into one in the worst way.

The beast suddenly roared out and flipped over. The maw opened to reveal four fleshy tentacles that bore it along, a serrated beak visible between them. The legs bent themselves backwards, blades now pointing out and down at its enemies. The remaining blades flashed downward, with Steven and Connie barely deflecting the points aside. The kids grew scared at this, worried for their guardians, and they had had enough of it.

Off balance from its attack, the beast was shocked by a sudden impact on its forward tentacle. Rodney slid to a stop, crash helmet bared, as the beast started to crumble from the force of his dash. Next was Tim, flying in with wings of water to blast the creature back away from his family. Eric was next, rushing in with Centipeetle at his side. Steven reached to stop him, only to be dumbstruck as the young boy reached a hand to his chest, drawing a barbed whip from deep within. He wrapped his whip around a bladed leg and pulled, further upsetting the creature's balance, and Centipeetle blasted the joint, removing yet another blade. Adam, not to be outdone, had already fused with his sister into Gabriel. They barreled into another of the creatures supporting tentacles, causing the upset beast to collapse onto its side with a screech.

The final blade, however, started to flail about, forcing the Universe family back lest they be skewered. The beast righted itself unsteadily, waving its remaining bladed leg ominously to ward off its foes. "I got it!" Mary yelled, rushing in low with her spear, body shimmering oddly. The blade lunged down, plunging itself through her...and destroying the hologram as Mary came up in its shadow and destroyed the final leg.

The beast roared out and tried to dig into the ground. "Stop it!" Steven yelled, and the entire group began its assault anew. The beast did its best to defend itself, wrapping itself up tight in its tentacles, the leathery skin stopping their blows. "Damnit!"

"Steven!" Connie chided despite the battle, giving him a look. The large hybrid shrugged embarrassedly in spite of the situation. "We need something-"

"Like this." The voice came from behind them, and Connie glanced back to see something odd. Five feet tall, the figure was covered in strange, forest green...armor? About five feet tall, the figure was clad in a green and black armored suit, simple in design and completely covering the individual inside. The helmet was triangular and swept back some, giving them an aerodynamic shape. The figure raised a hand, leveling it towards the beast. A beam of energy built in the palm and after a moment it blazed forth, burning a hole in the creature's side. "The gem is inside the beak, focus there." The figure let off three more blasts before Steven figured it out.

"Beth?!" he shouted in surprise, mirrored in every but Mary's expressions.

"Yes, Uncle Steven?" she responds deadpan, turning to him slightly. "Can this wait? Dodge!" Everyone obeyed, leaping backwards as the beast spun and flailed. "We need something bigger." Beth braced herself and held her hands out, wrists together and palms forward. A large sphere of energy began to build, crackling with green energy. "I need ten seconds!"

Everyone nodded, glad someone had a plan, and moved. Steven and Connie ran towards the left side, harassing the creature, even as Gabriel and Rodney took the other side. Tim attacked from above with spheres of compressed water while Eric and Centipeetle battered it from below. Lion roared out, staggering the creature and giving Mary an opening to lunge in, spear piercing the monster's hide. "Go!"

At Beth's shout everyone leaped back, having no clue what to expect from their youngest family member. With a boom of recoil that sent Beth rocketing backwards into the destroyed house, a massive spear of energy seemed to rush forward as if living before burying itself into the beast's maw. The explosion was immense, sending a plume of excess energy skyward and sending the whole beach into a frenzy of sand and wind. When everything was at last calm again, Steven looked through the settling sand to see a dull orange gem resting on the ground.

Rodney was the first to start cheering, and soon everyone was shouting and laughing at the victory. Beth, no longer wearing her strange armor, came crawling out of the wreckage and shaking her head. Steven and Connie rushed forward to embrace the young girl, laughing as they do.

"That was amazing!"

"How did you-?"

Beth struggled and finally was able to pull back enough to breathe. "When you all went through the door, I had Mary follow me as I entered my mother's room. I didn't have much time, but I put together a prototype from plans I saw during the tour." Steven whistled, impressed by his young charge's skills. "Um, Uncle Steven, who is that?"

Steven turned around confused, following Beth's pointing finger to see a blond haired individual standing at the edge of the beach, looking on in shock and rage. "Steven!" the man yelled, marching forward angrily. "WHAT exactly happened here?"

"Ronaldo?" the half-breed asked before smiling. "Ronaldo! Been a while."

"Don't," the other man said calmly, glaring slightly. "Elizabeth, are you okay?"

Beth only hesitated a moment before responding. "You, then, must be my father." Ronaldo nodded and kneeled before his daughter, smiling. "I am quite well. I had the protection of my combat exoskeleton. The recoil simply exceeded calculations." This is all said with her trademark calm, causing Steven and Connie to grin slightly.

"Steven!" Another shout came from the other end of the beach, as a number of individuals from Beach City rushed over to check on the group. In the back of his head, Steven realized the group consisted almost solely of the children's fathers.

Lars was the first on the scene, wearing a furious expression as he looked around. He quickly noticed Tim standing off to the side and rushed over. "You're okay," he sighed, throwing his arms around the boy. Tim flinched, starting to pull back until he finally made the connection.

"D-dad?" Lars nodded and sighed, looking at him softly. Sadie walked up behind her husband, looking at the young boy hesitantly. Similar introductions occurred around Steven and Connie. Sour Cream walked up to Eric and spoke to him shortly, making sure he was okay, but beyond that he seemed to be reacting the best out of the group. Jamie panted as he ran over to Adam and Eve, looking them over carefully much to Adam's annoyance. An aged Mr. Smiley even made an appearance, watching his progeny from a distance as Rodney settled down against a rock with a sigh.

Lastly came Mayor Buck Dewey, stalking angrily toward Steven. "What. Happened?"

"There was a gem monster hiding in the temple, and I don't know why but it suddenly released all of the other corrupted gems. We tried to lock them in the temple, but they forced their way out." Steven looked subdued, unusual for the usually rambunctious man. "But don't worry, everyone's okay. Mary's okay."

Mary herself stepped forward then, interested to finally meet her father. "H-hello, father."

Buck turned to her before kneeling and pulling her into a hug. "You're okay. Good." He stood suddenly, the mayor again. "Steven. Initially, we all agreed it would be best for you two to raise the kids. It made sense. You were half gem, you knew what to expect. But you never said anything about there being a monster in your basement. … Until we can be certain that this place is safe for these children, I must insist that they stay with their fathers for the time being. Especially since your home is destroyed. Until you can assure us without a shadow of a doubt they will be okay, I can't with a clear conscience allow them to stay with you."

Steven and Connie froze, each of the kids reacting differently. Mary was a tad shocked, gasping softly, while Eric didn't seem entirely opposed to the situation. Rodney looked a bit angry, liking his life here. Tim had been busy talking with his father, learning about him and his "step mother" and sister, Anna, but when he heard this he didn't seem to know how to respond. Adam and Eve gave each other silent looks, clearly discussing it intently. Beth was as stoic as ever, albeit looking up at her apparent father with interest.

Steven stood and looked around, sighing softly. "I think...you're right." Connie gasped, surprised at her husband, but he continued. "If nothing else, the kids need somewhere to stay while I rebuild. Besides, today we were planning to tell the kids about their dads. It might do them some good to learn about their human parents. But Buck, you know it's best they continue to live with us." Buck looked at his old friend in silence, waiting and listening. "Now more than ever. The corrupted gems are free now, and you know as well as I do only other gems can handle them."

"He's right," Ronaldo commented, standing up and adjusting his glasses. "My colleagues at the Pentagon have studied samples Steven gave us, and few of our weapons are as effective as legitimate gem technology. And with all of them free, we have little choice but to allow Steven to continue teaching and training the children."

Buck scratched his chin, thinking over everything. Finally, he sighed and stood tall. "Alright. I've made my decision. The children will live with their human fathers until such a time that this house is rebuilt, however long that might take." Steven and Connie sighed while the kids started wondering what it would be like to live with their dads for a time.

"Alright. It shouldn't take me more than a month," Steven explained, looking around. "Kids, gather round." They all came forward obediently, even Beth beginning to show some worry. "Well, this wasn't quite what I had in mind, but... Look at it this way. No classes or homework for a month." Eric and Tim chuckled a little at that, relieved by Stevens usual demeanor.

"Not so fast," Connie interceded, kneeling down in front of them all. "I want you to all use this chance to learn more about your human sides, about your fathers, and what it means to be human..." Steven sighed at this but nodded. "So, a challenge for you all: No gem powers while you're gone. You're going to practice being regular people, okay?" The kids all nodded, understanding this.

They headed into the wreckage of the house to collect clothes and other necessary items for the interim. Meanwhile, Steven and Connie spoke with the others to discuss specifics about each kid. "Do not, DO NOT, separate Adam and Eve. Otherwise, you'll have to deal with either a house fire or a miniature blizzard. Maybe both." "Rodney needs room to...exercise. And if he gets too rowdy, try some calming music." "Mary shouldn't really be much of a problem, but she can be shy. Don't try to push things too fast." "Tim's sort of wild and can be a bit stubborn, not to mention he has some issues with authority. When in doubt, take him swimming. The water's always calmed him down." "Sour Cream, don't let Eric party too much, otherwise he'll become unbearable. He'll probably also insist on taking Centipeetle with him, so you may want to stock up on chaps." "Beth is...a precocious child who will be sure to let you know. Don't talk down to her, or else you'll never get anything through to her. The best thing to do is to give her something to tinker with."

It doesn't take long for the kids to finish packing up and meet back up with the adults outside. With some final goodbyes and hugs, they left Steven and Connie to their work.

O


	7. Dad Days

_Jamie and the Twins_

Back at his place, Jamie looked back and forth between the twins with some uncertainty. Throughout the years, he had filled out and really worked out who he was, both physically and mentally. He was still very lithe, but his chest had become more robust, and his features seemed stronger. He'd been working as a director of the Beach City Community Theatre for years now and he still had much of his practiced grace and flair, but in this moment, he found himself with a dreadful case of stage fright. Adam was clearly uncomfortable and wouldn't hold anyone's gaze, sitting with a very inwardly aimed posture. Eve was dead silent, eyes hidden behind her bangs, an absolute enigma to her father.

"So... It's...good to see you two," Jamie began hesitantly, smiling sheepishly. "How are things?"

"We are doing well, all things considered," Eve responded in an even tone, nodding shortly. "Adam is just having trouble getting used to the fact that we will be staying here for some time." Adam glared over at her a little and she chuckled. "Adam, please, that's rude. Our father isn't used to the way we communicate.

Jamie looked at the twins in confusion, not sure what's going on. Adam groaned and sat forward to explain. "Listen, pops, I'll lay it all out. If you see Eve or me look at the other like that, chances are we're thinking something at the other. Talking in our heads."

"Telepathy?" the now aging actor asked, slight understanding forming. "That's actually amazing. Could Garnet do that?"

Eve shook her head and adjusted her dress. "No, this is an ability unique between us, though I suspect it does have something to do with the way our mother lived. We cannot be sure, though."

Jamie nodded and sat back, slowly relaxing around his children. "Well then... So, who wants something to eat?"

"Lasagna sounds wonderful, thank you," Eve responded. Jamie looked on in confusion and she giggled. "Like our mother, and the original owner of this gem," she explained, lifting her hand to reveal the blue stone set into her palm. "I have the ability to see into the future, though it is not quite as extensive as what our mother had." Jamie nodded slowly as his head spun from all of this info. He watched quietly as the twins spoke silently again, but he was still unprepared for her next statement. "Also, we would be glad to accompany you to the theatre tomorrow. I certainly believe Adam could use the distraction."

Jamie nodded numbly while rubbing the back of his head. "Well, alright then. Let's eat then?" The twins nodded, Adam seeming to relax at the mention of food, and they went into the dining room.

 _Mr. Smiley tames a beast_

Rodney was not happy to be taken away from Steven and he showed it in his posture and general demeanor. Mr. Smiley, an old man now by far, had no time for it though. "Boy, you stop that sulking and help me open this gate." He motioned to the large gate of the arcade, and Rodney snorted shortly before lifting the gate with ease. "Thanks. Now then, the way I look at it is this. I don't know how to deal with kids, and you don't want to deal with me."

Rodney nodded, thinking, _At least we can agree on that._

"So," his father continued. "There's frozen meals in the freezer in back, you can play whatever games you want to, don't touch the prizes. Sound good?" Rodney started nodding rapidly, suddenly liking this situation more. "Good. If you need me, and I suspect you won't, I'll be in the back."

With that, the elderly man made his way to the back, leaving Rodney to his own devices. With the arcade gates closed and all of them waiting, Rodney grinned. _Yeah, I'll be fine._

 _Mayor and Mary_

Mary sat timidly at the dinner table, sitting across from her father and his wife. On her right sat Kiki, who was much more relaxed than the others. Buck was quiet, pensive, and Jenny was more than a little unsure with having the half gem in the house. It was Kiki who finally broke the silence.

"Mary was it?" The young hybrid nodded shortly, picking at the food in front of her. "You know, you do look a lot like your mother, and I'm not just talking about the gem." Mary blushes and bows her head slightly, embarrassed. "You know, your mom and I got along pretty well."

"Remember the volleyball game and the cookout?" Jenny interrupted suddenly, causing both sisters to laugh. "'Nothing wrong with being tidy,'" Jenny commented and laughed. Kiki looked annoyed for a second at her sister's mocking tone, but soon she sighed and chuckled along with her.

"Oh man, and remember that puffer fish?"

Mary looked up in interest at this as she remembered hearing about the gem that looked like a puffer fish. She listened on in awe as the sisters talked about how they all worked together to poof it and how it bridged the divide between the two groups.

"Hey, Buck, remember that freaky moss stuff and how Steven and Lars saved us?" Buck chuckled as his wife reminded him of that misadventure.

"Or the joyride in the escape pod," he mentioned, causing them both to laugh.

Mary watched with slight awe as the three adults spoke of times with Steven, feeling more at peace with what she heard.

 _Donut Time with Tim_

"Tim, please, come back here!" Lars shouted after his son, watching the boy easily dive off the pier and into the water. "We have to go home for dinner. Your sister is there!" Tim surfaced to glare at him before diving back down. Lars screamed in frustration, moments from leaping in after him.

"Lars, that's enough." He froze at his wife's gentle hand on his arm. "He just needs time to get used to you. He's use to Steven and Connie and the other kids, and now all of a sudden he's stuck with us. He's got to have a lot going through his head. Just head home and check on Anna, I'll take care of Tim, okay?"

He stared at her a moment before sighing. "Alright, Sadie. You're right, he probably needs some time to digest what's happening. I'll get dinner ready." He leaned down to give her a quick kiss before making his way toward the Big Donut, larger than in his youth.

Meanwhile, Sadie was humming as she walked along the pier. "...make a scene, stepping out of my hot-pink limousine..." She looked into the water and saw the young boy sitting at the bottom, back leaning against one of the supports, a bubble of air around him. Shrugging off her shoes, Sadie dove in, startling him as she swam down and into the bubble. "Hey, kid."

"What do you want?" he asked, holding his arms tighter around him, staring at the woman before him in confusion and anger.

"Just to check up on you." Sadie began to squeeze the water out of her hair, looking over at him. "Hey, Tim, anything you can do about this water? The salt's gonna ruin my hair." He raised an eyebrow but lifted a hand, concentrating on pushing the water away, and in a flash Sadie was dry. "Thanks, kid. Now then..." She started, folding her legs. "Rough day, huh?" He nodded shortly, clearly not in a good mood. "You know, your mom and I were sorta friends. She'd always come to the Big Donut with Steven. She loved the cinnamon twists, and sometimes we'd sing karaoke."

Tim couldn't help himself as he listened to her talk, sitting forward some. Sadie smiled at this and kept talking. By the time she suggested they go get lunch, Tim was calm and compliant, keeping them dry on the short walk to shore. Just outside of their home attached to the Big Donut, Tim stopped. "Um... Thanks for letting me stay."

Sadie smiled and pat his head. "Hey, you're family. This is your home, too." He stared after her as she stepped through the door, hesitantly following, hesitantly hopeful.

 _Party with Eric_

The music pumped loudly in the background as Sour Cream led his son up the stairs behind the warehouse that makes up his club. Eric was more than excited to spend some time away from responsibilities and hang out with his dad. Centipeetle happily skipped along behind him, following his friend closely. At the top of the stairs, Sour cream was already opening the door, bobbing his head in time with the beat. The inside of the small home was cozy but as small as it looked from the outside, clearly designed with a bachelor lifestyle in mind.

Eric didn't say anything, just dropping his stuff down on a chair and flopping onto the couch, remembering the few times he'd stayed here while angry at Steven. "Um, you mind if the bug-gem-guy stays outside? I don't want holes in the floor." Centipeetle looked up at this and Eric sighed, nodding.

"Come on, Centipeetle, we're going outside to find you a place to sleep." The gem pet bounced happily as he bounced through the door after the boy.

Sour Cream took this chance to sit down at the small table by the entrance, hanging his head in his hands. "Man, this took a wild turn." He eventually hopped up to check on Eric, finding him below the stairs and trying to work out a way for Centipeetle to be comfy. "I think I have an old shipping crate in the back of the club from when I got some speakers." He quickly retrieved the wooden crate, setting it up for the gem.

Back inside, the silence was more awkward than either expected with all pretense gone. Finally, Eric spoke. "Why don't we go into the warehouse and party some?" He had a snarky grin on his face, clearly expecting a full month of fun.

"Nah man, I got work to do. Been taking an online course. And I don't want you hanging around in there alone, day or night. Got me?" Eric was more than a little caught off guard by this response, used to the more relaxed Sour Cream. "In the meantime, I think it'd be a good idea for you to read a book." The half-gem was even more shocked by this statement, barely breaking free from his surprise to catch the book thrown to him.

" _The Old Man and the Sea_?" he asked.

"Yeah, man. Read it. It's some serious stuff." Eric rolled his eyes and opened up to the first page, sitting down on the couch. By the time he's halfway through the first chapter, he can be seen curled up tightly around the battered volume, eyebrows furrowed in concentration.

 _Bethany goes Home_

The silence in the Fryman residence was almost deafening in its totality. With the shop closed for the day, only Peedee, Ronaldo, and Beth were present. Peedee had filled out to look much like his father, albeit not quite as bulky. Yet despite no longer being a kid, he felt intimidated by this eight-year-old girl, his niece by all rights, sitting across from him. Ronaldo was stewing in a watchful silence, having never truly interacted with his daughter before. Beth, meanwhile, was cataloging her surroundings and her father and uncle.

When the silence grew unbearable, Peedee stood, heading towards the kitchen. "Uh, anyone want fries."

"No thank you," Beth and her progenitor respond simultaneously, gazes now locked. Peedee shivered, worried that now there were two weirdos in the family. He took his offer as his own escape, leaving the father and daughter to themselves.

"So, you are the government's 'expert' on gems?"

"Yes. And you are supposed to be very precocious? Connie informed me of your excellent grades."

"Indeed. I was also the first of my siblings to obtain access to their room. It allowed me to craft the combat armor I used in that battle."

"Battle armor? I assume it's made from gem technology. Very impressive. Perhaps you could help me analyze some samples Steven allowed my to collect over the years."

"That sounds excellent, father. I look forward to learning more."

Around this time, Peedee entered with food, stopping at the sight of the pair sitting unchanged. "I'm...gonna go watch t.v..." He awkwardly backed out of the room, deciding then and there to stay out of their way. They clearly had things under control.

 _Work to be Done_

Back on the beach, Connie and Steven were hard at work. It had taken a while to collect the materials, but after that it was just a matter of putting the pieces back together. The whole front of the house was in ruins from where the gem monsters had made their mad dash for freedom, and the pair had decided to work from the outside in. After a couple hours hard work, they stopped for lunch. The kitchen had remained mostly intact, and Steven decided to look on the brighter side. "At least we've got a nice breeze coming through."

Connie laughed lightly, reassured by her husband's unfailing sense of human, but not long after she felt her stomach grow uneasy. "Steven, could you watch the food? I gotta use the restroom." The burly hybrid saluted and hopped up, kissing her cheek in passing as she rushed to the bathroom. Inside, she dropped to the floor and retched into the toilet, suddenly worried, hoping it was nothing.

"Connie, you okay?" Steven called out from across the house.

"I'm fine," she replied, not wanting to worry the man. _He has enough on his mind. Besides, it's probably just a stomach bug that'll be gone in a week._

She didn't say it, even to herself, but as she retched again, one could almost hear the 'I hope.'

O 

You have no idea how sorry I am about how late this is. This is what happens when writer's block, schoolwork, and computer troubles all gang up on you. So, to help prevent at least one of those things from happening again, I ask for your help. What do you wanna see out of the next chapter? You, the fans, the readers, will get to decide the path this fic takes next.


	8. Settling

_Two Weeks Later..._

The kids had all eventually settled into life with their human parents and families. At least once a day, the kids would pass another of the brood, talking excitedly about their lives and how different they are. This fact really seemed to help the young hybrids make it through the ordeal. Some even found themselves enjoying their time. Of course…nothing lasts.

/0\

 _Adam and Eve enter stage left..._

"One, two, three, four!" On Jamie's cue, the actors started going through the motions of the dance. It was an intricate and beautiful ballet, all of the focus on the lead actor and actress. But then, disaster struck. An inattentive stage hand above ran into a light, causing the assembly to rip away from the wall to fall to the stage below. Thankfully, Adam had pushed the man out of the way in time, saving his life. There was only one problem.

"Shit, my leg!" The production was in shambles at this. They didn't have an understudy, they didn't have a backup plan, they had nothing. Well, actually, they had the twins.

When Jamie found them, he saw them glaring at each other in silence, clearly debating something heavily. "Hey, kids? You okay?" A moment of silence greeted him, but before he could speak again, Adam shouted in annoyance.

"Okay, fine, you win. We'll help him."

"Thank you, Adam." Eve smiled softly as her brother folded—again—to her request. "Jamie, we have a solution for your problem. Adam can play the role while I feed it to him psychically from off-stage. He will not forget any lines, he will not miss any cues, I can promise that."

"Wait what really?" Jamie was ecstatic to hear that the show wasn't over, immediately returning to work to fit Adam in. The twins smiled at each other, glad they were getting along with their father. A distant crash, however, heralded something sinister.

/0\

 _Rodney's plan wasn't so perfect..._

The boy grumbled as he lugged out a large trash can slam full. He was still chafing over his earlier chiding. Mr. Smiley had caught him trying to use old tickets he'd thrown out to trick the ticket counter and get some prizes. For a full half hour, the elderly arcade owner had railed the lad on the consequences of his actions and on moral responsibility. It just made him want to go home sooner. "To Hell with him, he was just a sperm donor. He's not my father." He growled and slammed the trash can down in its spot, turning to kick a can down the alley, scaring a cat at the end. "He was just a necessity. He's nothing." He growled and punched the wall, cracking the bricks.

"Enough." Mr. Smiley stood at the door, scowling. "I don't care if ya like me, but don't damage anything. Now you're gonna have to fix it up."

Rodney reared back and roared, helmet flashing on in his fury. He started beating his head against the wall, the cracks widening until the wall falls in. Mr. Smiley was furious and stepped back inside a moment. Outside, Rodney stamped about, shouting angrily and wanting something to fight. A sudden sound caught his attention, stilling his rampage: the soft thump of music. It grew, coming from inside, followed by a soft, smooth voice. The red in his eyes started to clear as he took a step closer to the door. The voice was calming, soothing, safe. His helmet disappeared with a flash of light, and he laid down where he was, curling up like a wildcat. Soon, he was asleep, and the voice trailed off.

The music stopped, and Mr. Smiley looked at the boy who, no matter how much either of them dislike the fact, is his son. He reached down to scoop him up, but a sound stopped him. Rodney awoke to the screeching of something out for blood.

/0\

 _Mary wasn't ready for this…_

"N-no, it's okay, I swear…" Her voice trembled as she looked between the skirts and crop tops, wincing a little as her aunt pulled out one even shorter.

"Come on, Mary," Jenny urged. "You need to have some _fun_ clothes, clothes for when you just go out and have a good time!"

"My sister's right, it's not bad to dress nice, but sometimes you just gotta let loose, hun." Kiki nodded sagely as she agreed with her sister, leaving Mary to sigh in defeat.

"I'll…try them on…" The twins whooped in victory and pushed her towards a dressing room with a few outfits.

"You'll have to show us the outfits!"

"Well, most of them." Jenny laughed at her comment, leaving Mary confused.

But, once inside the locked stall and looking through the clothing, she noticed what her stepmother(?) was talking about. At the bottom of the stack was a small selection of…frilly underwear. _Someone save me._ The sudden screams from outside were _not_ what she was asking for…but they'd do.

/0\

 _At least they're trying..._

"Come on, what's taking so long?!" Tim was exasperated at the customer before him. His "dad" had got him behind the counter, and Tim found he hated dealing with people, currently wanting to throttle the man before him. The man in question was staring blankly at the menu, six people behind him, as he tried to decide what donut he wanted.

"Tim, be more respectful towards the customers," Sadie reminded him, walking up to pat his shoulder. "The register isn't always easy."

"Tim! Come help me move these boxes!" Lars shouted from the back, causing the tanned boy to groan and roll his eyes.

"I swear… I'm working the register, in case you forgot!" he shouted back at his "father."

"Don't you shout at me like that!" Lars shouted right back.

"Then why are you doing it to me?!" There was silence after this, and Sadie chuckled awkwardly. Before she can speak, Tim groans. "I swear, is this guy really my dad?"

Sadie chuckled and patted his back. "You're more alike than you like to admit." Tim huffed but sighed, leaving the register to Sadie to help Lars.

"Whatcha need—" He cut short as he heard a scream. Lars was cowering in the corner, a large tentacle dragging away a box.

/0\

 _Another old man and Eric…_

Eric pulled at the shirt, far more constricting than his usual hoodie. But, there was a reason for the scratchy shirt and the boring pants and uncomfortable shoes. They were visiting Yellowtail, his grandfather. An old man by far now, he mostly just rested in his bed at the retirement home. The elderly fisherman looked at his stepson with pride, mumbling something Eric couldn't catch.

"Thanks, Pops. I hate to say it, but he's like me. A pain. But, he's got a good head and a good heart if he'll listen to them." The old fisherman laughed and mumbled something else. "Oh yeah, he didn't put it down for four days, and when he did it was because he had finished it." Eric sighed, watching the interaction before him.

 _I've heard him talk about how things used to be with his stepdad. How they never got along. … Will this be me one day? Visiting an elderly man?_ Being _that elderly man?_ He got lost in his own thoughts, allowing the older two to speak, but the silence doesn't last for long. A high pitched shriek pierces the area, and it didn't sound human.

/0\

 _Beth cannot be out-nerded…_

"Impossible! How could your Starfighters take out my dreadnought with skirmisher class proton torpedos?!"

"Simple, your dreadnought had a fatal flaw built into the entire line of production. There's a thin wall next to the fuel cells by the aft engine. A suitable blast can destroy the entire ship."

Peedee sighed, quietly eating his potatoes. In the next room, the "weird ones" were in the middle of a video game, one that Ronaldo had been playing for years it seems….and consistently losing at for the past seven hours.

"And now, with your flagship down, my hidden bombers can wipe out your capital city. Checkmate." And with the same calm, measured voice, she won, leaving Ronaldo grief-stricken.

"I have been dethroned. Well-met, my dear. You have conquered my empire and seized my lands. I bow to thee."

Beth smiled and bowed theatrically. "You were a worthy opponent. Your territories will be spared my wrath."

"Hey, weirdos, you seein' this?" Peedee said from the next room, staring out the window. Beth flinched as an inhuman screech sounded.

/0\

 _Maybe not a bug..._

"Ooooohhhh..."

Connie groaned over the toilet, stray hairs plastered to her forehead by sweat. Steven was at her side, holding the rest of her hair back and slowly rubbing her back. She'd managed to covertly throw up on three separate occasions before she got caught, and now Steven was panicking.

"What if it's a stomach parasite? Or maybe an alien fungus eating you from the inside out?"

"Or just a stomach bug," she argued, wiping her mouth and sitting back, okay for now. "I probably just ate some bad fish, it's fine. I am a doctor, Steven."

"Doctor. Right." He slowly calmed down, pulling her to his side. "Well, in your professional opinion, what would your diagnosis be."

Connie frowned and looked down in thought. "Well... Nausea, particularly upon waking... Cramping... …... Odd cravings..."

Steven frowned at the last symptom, thinking back to the pickle and butter sandwich he'd found her eating the other night. She stood suddenly, startling him as she rushed to the medicine cabinet, filled with hospital quality supplies. The half-gem found himself ushered out and left to wonder what she stumbled upon.

Before he could ask, however, he heard the undeniable screech of something altogether inhuman. "Stay here!" With that—likely to be ignored—order, he rushed out, worried, remembering the sound.

/0\

Le gasp! Could this be! An actual...update?! Please, calm yourselves, I know it's an emotional moment. I am back for the time being. I cannot promise regular updates, because I'd be lying, and because I haven't planned this thing out and still have no clue where I'm going with it. My plan?

WINGING IT!


	9. Surprises Galore

((Yes, this was way too long coming, I'm so, so sorry about that, but I didn't know what to do. NONE OF YOU WILL SAY ANYTHING! For real, I don't know what to do or what anyone wants because no one ever gives me any feedback. So please, if you're interested in this and you want to see more of it, please, please, PLEASE, comment something. Lemme know that people are actually reading the bloody thing, that it's not a waste of my time.))

Steven ran outside and leapt onto Lion's back, riding towards the center of Beach City from which people were fleeing. He was almost shocked to see not just one but three corrupted gems attacking the city. He saw the Worm monster from the day he met and talked to Connie for the first time, the day he learned how to make his bubble. It was devouring a box from the Big Donut filled with some sort of promotional glowing cup. Meanwhile, the Big Bird from the day he met Opal was flying around and swooping on people, trying to eat them. Lastly, he saw one of the old corrupted quartzes rummaging through an alley.

He didn't know if he was angry or proud to see Tim running out of the Big Donut, trident in hand, to fight off the Worm. Around the same time, the quartz was thrown back, Rodney dashing into it. The bird dove down at some people running, only for a spear to fly past its beak, forcing it to pull away. Mary was on the ground, sighing, relieved she managed to ward it off.

"Uncle Steven," Beth said as she approached. "My armor is ready, should I use it?"

"Uh, save it for now. Just stay here with Lion for now." She didn't seem pleased, but he didn't have time to worry. Gabriel approached, gauntlets out. "Good. Looks like Mary could use some help with the Bird."

"I got it!" Steven felt a shock of fear at that phrase as Eric came flying in as a parrot, Centipeetle on the ground and following.

But as the Bird dove at the seemingly easy prey, Eric changed mid-flight into a porcupine. The Bird snapped him up, but immediately started coughing, landing to retch and giving Centipeetle the chance it need to douse the creature's legs in acid. Mary gave the final strike, a spear through the back, taking care of the first threat.

Steven ran up to bubble the gem, while Gabriel and Rodney manhandled the quartz into submission with ease between the pair, poofing it through sheer crushing power and bringing it over to their guardian to bubble it. "Okay, that leaves…" The oldest half-gem blanched as he saw Tim chase the Worm into the water.

"Don't worry, my suit has aquatic capabilities," the young genius stated, pulling out a metal disk from her overalls. She slapped it to her chest, and her black armor grew outward from there, the first time anyone but Mary had seen the process.

"Beth!" Steven called out, causing the youngest to turn. "… Be safe, and take care of Eric."

"Of course. He's family."

In the clear waters off the coast, Tim found that the Worm could move as easily as him, and that he'd lost the advantage his flight gave him on the surface. It took every bit of training he had to dodge and strike back against the corrupted gem, but he knew he couldn't do this alone. As he dodged another lunge, not even able to get off a counter attack this time, he could faintly hear a garbled voice.

"Eric, I'm moving in." He didn't think anyone else could fight underwater and was incredibly glad to be wrong as a green blast hit the Worm, knocking the angry gem off course and saving him. Beth stood in her armor just at the top of the shelf above where he fought the Worm. "I'm charging up primary blast, but I need it still."

"With pleasure." Tim gave a salute and threw his trident at the Worm to catch its attention before heading towards a small crack in the stone. Like the mindless beast it was, the Worm followed with an angry roar. Tim cheered a moment when he slipped inside the sea cave and his foe slammed into the wall, but that ended when he saw the crack widen and the first rocks fall. "Beth? It's now or never!"

The only answer he got was when an explosion rocked the sea bed, more rocks falling around him. Luckily, the cave held, and outside there was naught but silence. Swimming out revealed a crater in the wall and a gem resting in the sand. When the swimmer looked up at the shelf, he saw Beth leaping down.

"Woohoo! Beth, that was—"

He was shocked into silence as Beth hugged him, not hard enough to hurt but enough to show how worried she was, though that may have just been the suit's strength enhancements. Before he could address it, she pulled back and turned. "… Don't tell anyone, okay? I want them to take me seriously."

"Of course, Beth." He smiled, though, because that didn't change the fact that she was worried about him. "Come on, let's take the gem to Uncle Steven."

/0\

To say she was worried was an understatement. She'd almost stopped in the middle of her work when she heard the sounds, but she trusted Steven to take care of it. Though that didn't stop her from grabbing a sword and running after him once she'd finished up in the bathroom. To her pleasant surprise, she found the battle over when she got there, all of the kids standing around her husband and talking excitedly about the battle.

"Aunt Connie!" Eric was the one who noticed her, and they all ran up to hug her. "Auntie, you should have seen Mary, she was incredible," the young hoodlum praised, an interesting sight in the formal clothes he'd worn to see Yellowtail.

"She finished off the Big Bird," Steven explained, smiling. The young girl blushed and stammered, but that didn't hold off the adulation of her family.

"And Rodney went toe-to-toe with that quartz," Adam said, a hint of pride in his voice. "He almost didn't even need us." Eve tittered as the most hot-headed of the kids glared at each and proceeded to argue about who actually poofed the gem in question.

"How about Tim soloing the Worm?" Beth mentioned, giving him an interesting look. "I was very impressed, he did very well on his own."

When everyone went to congratulate him, he shook his head. "I was handling it well at first, but in the water I lost my advantage. I couldn't have taken it down on my own. Beth was the one who made the shot. That armor of hers is amazing." She blushed heavily at the praise being directed at her, hiding a small smile.

"I'm proud of all of you," Connie said with a smile, impressed.

"What about you, what was that about back there?" The doctor/warrior groaned, looking back to the house at Steven's question.

"Well, that still has to be seen…"

"Steven!" There was a collective groan as Buck approached, worried about something worse happening. Instead, the mayor was smiling. "I have to say, I was worried about the kids, but I can see you've trained them well. I mean, Mary stuck that bird like a holiday turkey."

"Tim, that was amazing!" The tanned boy shouted out as his father ran up behind him to hug him. "You saved the promotional cups!" Everyone got a laugh out of that, and next seemed to be Ronaldo's turn to approach.

"Drat, I missed a chance to see your combat armor," the fed said, adjusting his shades.

"Apologies, father. It takes three days for it to recharge. Next time, I will inform you before I head into battle so that you may observe."

"Eric, little dude, you ran off, man." Sour Cream walked up and smiled. "Pops said that next time, he wants to talk to you some." Eric rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment but nodded.

Jamie was somewhere between terrified, livid, and overjoyed, eventually settling on hugging the twins close, much to one's chagrin and the other's pleasure. Steven had watched all of this would a mixture of joy and sadness, before glancing over at Rodney on the edge. Mr. Smiley was approaching, and the boy seemed like he was dreading what came next.

"Boy… Come on, dinner's getting cold, and you need to wash that dust out of your hair before you get anywhere near my dinner table." This treatment seemed to throw the young warrior for a loop, but he didn't resist as the elderly arcade owner led him home.

That seemed to be the signal for everyone to scatter and go back to acting like regular humans, each waving goodbye to the rest and to their guardians. Steven, Connie, and Lion started the walk back to the in-progress Universe home in silence. Connie was pensive, Steven was thinking, and Lion was Lion. Back home, she fled to the bathroom, delaying Steven's questioning, but only until he knocked on the bathroom door.

As the door opened, Steven saw his wife come walking out, tears in her eyes and a scared smile on her face…holding a pregnancy test with a small pink plus sign staring back at him.


	10. T-T Thank you

I'm actually blown away by all of this. You guys actually care. And I was starting to think I was only talking to myself with this story... Well, your impassioned pleas have moved me. THE CRAZY TRAIN AIN'T RETIRING JUST YET, SO HOP AT YOUR NEAREST STATION AND GET READY FOR A WILD RIDE!

In all seriousness, everyone, thank you. I was thinking that absolutely no one cared about this story. Thanks for believing in me. In thanks, here's a sneak peak at the next installment: Octodad?

Steven wasn't a child, and he wasn't an idiot. He was thirty-five and had helped raise several children by this point, he knew how kids were made. He understood more than most how gem kids were made, such as his own conception and birth. So it wasn't the mechanics that had him confused or scared, it was the fact that this was currently one of the situations he had no clue about when it came to kids, namely his own.

The way he understood it, the whole process is simple with humans. Between gems and humans, apparently there was a choice between regular birth or half-gem, one of which passed along the gem. But between a human and a half-gem? No one knew what was going to happen, but much like his own story, Steven would be among the first to know what this meant.


	11. Growing

((Well, there is no better inspiration for writing than a bout of insomnia to where you can't even lay down. And you can thank my fans on Fanfiction for this fic even continuing.))

Steven wasn't a child, and he wasn't an idiot. He was thirty-five and had helped raise several children by this point, he knew how kids were made. He understood more than most how gem kids were made, such as his own conception and birth. So it wasn't the mechanics that had him confused or scared, it was the fact that this was currently one of the situations he had no clue about when it came to kids, namely his own.

The way he understood it, the whole process is simple with humans. Between gems and humans, apparently there was a choice between regular birth or half-gem, one of which passed along the gem. But between a human and a half-gem? No one knew what was going to happen, but much like his own story, Steven would be among the first to know what this meant.

"Well, at least we know you aren't disappearing on me," Connie offered from her position sitting in her husband's arms. "I mean, with your mom, she disappeared when you were born, but since biologically you won't be directly involved in that, I think—"

"I get it, honey, you're relieved that I'm not disappearing on you. And I think we can assume our kid will be completely human since I've still got a gem. So now I think we just…prepare for our kid."

"When do we tell everyone?" Steven didn't have an answer to that. "And what about all of the corrupted gems? I'm not going to be able to flip around and swing a sword with a baby bump."

Steven sighed and kissed her into silence. "Connie, we'll figure it out. And when you can no longer fight, well, it's not like I'll be fighting alone. The kids can hold their own well enough now."

"Maybe…"

"I will remind you I didn't fight anything today, the kids took down those gems all on their own."

"I suppose so… But what about the house? You can't rebuild it alone."

"Connie, relax. You are months away from giving birth and months away from having that big of a baby bump, we'll be done with plenty of time before you're laid up in bed." Steven chuckled and turned his wife to look at him. She was biting on her lip again and she looked frazzled, unprepared. "Connie, you have nothing to worry about. Honestly, we should be excited. After all of this time…"

She nodded and finally relaxed, laying her head on his shoulder and nuzzling into him. She laughed softly as some stray beard hairs tickled her and Steven joined in. Soon, the couple was laughing loudly about everything, letting all of their emotions settle finally.

"Okay, Steven, you're right. It's all okay and I'm just acting like my mom. We'll be fine." He nodded and kissed her. "We'll be parents…"

/0\

By the next day, Beach City was back to normal, the citizens long since used to gem business occurring and easily returning to normal business. The kids were almost disappointed to go back to their human lives, feeling invincible after that victory. But, they knew that more would come and that they had to be ready. So, they decided to each train on their own.

Rodney figured that if he held back (to not break anything), he could use some of the arcade games to train. Reflexes, decision making, aim, that kind of stuff. Meanwhile, Mr. Smiley kept him busy carrying things around. The elderly proprietor seemed to realize that Rodney needed to stay in motion and so always had something for him to do. But, it was the singing that made everything okay. Every night, Mr. Smiley would play that same recording of his only single and Rodney would drop off right to sleep. They no longer sat through dinner in awkward, angry silences. It was still quiet, but it was more comfortable.

"… So, I see you beat your high scores again today. That's some good work. You keep those scores high, people will keep coming back to beat them." "If you say so… … Oh, um… Whack a mole seems like it's stuttering, I might have hit it too hard. We should fix it." "I'll show you how tomorrow."

Tim was finally starting to come to terms with his dad through the utter kindness of his step mom. He'd been initially worried, what with them having a child already in their home, especially about Sadie feeling angry at him because of her husband and his mom, but his dad was actually the more troublesome one, but only because they were so much alike. Whenever the two would fight, Sadie would act as mediator and counsel for each. And when necessary, little Rose would make an appearance, her adorable face enough to end any argument. Sadie was nothing but kind and patient, exactly what Tim needed to relax there.

"I promise, Tim, it's fine. Accidents happen." "I shouldn't have been practicing in the store, dad already told me not to…" "Tim, it's okay. You can just as easily clean up the spill as you can make it."

The twins were starting to enjoy the theatre more than Adam expected (Eve of course knew that the theatre was the type of non-violent outlet that her brother needed). Adam had eventually learned the lines himself after enough practice runs, so Eve took over helping their father manage the stage. Her vision helped them avoid almost every possible disaster, the key word being almost. They were only a couple days away from the night of the show when the head actress tripped and sprained her ankle.

"With no understudy, the play is going to be ruined! If only…" "That's an excellent plan father, I will do it." "What do you-? Wait, that's genius! Did I think of that?" "Yes, you did. Well done, father." "Oh, uh, thank you."

Beth found an environment that not only accepted her propensity to tinker but encouraged it. Back at home with Steven and Connie, it was generally looked down upon for her to take apart the microwave (after the sixth time it happened, Steven started getting old units from the junkyard or from Amethyst's old room). Ronaldo would bring his daughter all sorts of gadgets and gizmos (some of which were military property and by all rights should not have been in the hands of a child so young) to work with, cataloguing each amazing invention.

"And with that, we should have the beginnings of a gravity leveler system. Of course, it won't be complete until I can make a particle accelerator that can fit in a belt." "Amazing, and you say you got this idea from…?" "A popular science fiction film. Much of it was hogwash, but it gave me the idea."

Eric practiced with Centipeetle and helped Sour Cream during the day. He'd worked to master his shapeshifting more and had gotten much better. Unlike his mother, he didn't have the issue of always being purple, a likely benefit of his half-human heritage. And every day, Centipeetle seemed to understand that bit more. At night and when he wasn't doing anything else, he was reading surprisingly enough. His father kept him loaded up with books to keep him out of trouble, but it caused a rather unexpected issue with the ragged party-child.

"Eric, it's almost one, it's time to sleep." "Come on, dad, this chapter is almost over, and then it's the big climax." "Hey, I've pushed back curfew three times this week already. Besides, weren't you and Centi doing something tomorrow?" "Fine… Let me finish this chapter?"

Surprisingly, Mary was the one having the most trouble. Her father's family was far more energetic than she was used to, always doing something together either at home or on the boardwalk. Her stepmother and her aunt were always trying their hardest to get Mary to come out of her shell while Buck, when not busy as mayor, tried to connect with her through her primary interest.

"So, I put my arms in and spin—" "Yes, but faster, or else you're liable to wobble, father." "Tsk, man, this ballet stuff is too quiet and soft, let's get something fun in here." "Sister, ballet is smooth, it's not like dancing in a club." "Please don't fight…"

There was one very important change in their schedules with their human families. At least once a week now, the groups all came together to allow the kids to relax together and talk about hybrid things.

"So you're going to be in a play? Might just have to get a ticket to see how it goes," Rodney said with a challenging grin, subtly trying to goad Adam into something more rambunctious. "I'll have you know I'm becoming something of a proper thespian. That means actor." "I know what it means. Well I'm learning business, and I get to play in the arcade whenever I want." "You two, stop fighting or you're going to break something."

"Mary, how are things going with… Hey, you okay? You look tense." Eric talked with Mary, trying to make sure she was okay, which she assured him she was. "Well… If you ever just need to talk or anything, I'm here."

"So, Beth, you been working on that suit of yours?" "Yes, Tim, I have worked mainly on the battery pack since last time. I wish to be more useful more often." "Have you learned anything else?" "I can manipulate magnetic fields on a small scale. That or I keep breathing too hard on the paper clips. Tests are inconclusive."

Slowly, each half-gem started to find their balance. Rodney learned to control his strength, the twins adapted their teamwork for choreography and monologuing. Eric learned more and more about Centipeetle while Mary, very slowly, learned to be more open with her feelings. Tim started controlling his temper and thinking things through while, thanks to her uncle Peedee, Beth started to realize more about how to be a kid ("It's a jellyfish that rocks back and forth." "Trust me, Beth, your uncle Steven showed this to me way back when and it's better than it looks.") If only the good times could last longer than a week.


	12. Update again, sorry

I know I have been making you all wait for far, far too long already, and I apologize. I've been going through some shit the past couple months and haven't had any inspiration to write anything at all. But, I just realized something. I checked the traffic on my stories, and this is by far my most popular thing I've written with just over 10000 views, and I just... I'm shocked. I'm delighted. Thank you all for liking this crazy stupid fanfic idea of mine and for dealing with my inconsistent posting and hiatuses. I'm going to try my hardest to finish this next chapter and get you guys the update you deserve, but I can tell you this at least. This story is still going! For you!


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